Dawning of You
by Foxiscully
Summary: My drables of Akatsuki no Yona. Hope you'll enjoy my musings yet again. Thanking my readers in advance. God Bless.
1. By Your Side

_(Scene takes place after they left Seiryuu's village and in the night after Yona's request for Hak to continue calling her Princess, when others were beginning to call her by her name)_

 **BY YOUR SIDE**

Yona woke up with a start.

She looked towards her two sides and saw Yoon on her left, and Kija and Shinha on her right.

As she predicted, Hak was not lying amongst them.

Slowly, Yona sat up, only to find the object of her search sitting against a tree across from them. Staring intently at her, not in the least surprised she woke up in the middle of the night.

Staring intently as if to beckon her towards him.

And as how he seemed to will it, Yona got up to slowly walk towards him, pulled by his magnetic stare.

When she reached him, Yona simply sat beside his big frame and looked up toward his handsome serious face.

Even sitting down, he seems to tower above me, she thought.

Again Hak did not seem surprise of her observation of him. Heck, since the day King Il got killed by Soo Won, nothing seemed to surprise him anymore.

"Are you upset?" Yona asked him.

Now, he was taken aback. Does he look upset to her?

"No," he shook his head, staring down at her upturned face.

The moonlight cast a soft glow on her already beautiful face. It did not matter that she has a small smudge on her cheek and dried grass in her hair as a result of lying on the ground. To Hak, it made her more real and appealing. And it took every ounce of strength for him not to bend towards that face and capture the red lips there.

"Do I look upset to you?"

"No, that's not what I meant," Yona bent head down. "I meant about asking you to never stop calling me, Princess."

"Oh," Hak chuckled. "If you really wanna know the truth, the word Princess has been some sort of an endearment to me. For you."

Yona looked back up at him, slowly smiling.

"You mean to soften your teases or sarcasm?'

"Or to over amplify them," he grinned.

"Ah ha," Yona's small smile turn to a big one, glad Hak knew she did not mean the request as means to distance them socially. To her, Hak has always been an equal to her. In fact, she accepted that in many ways, he was higher positioned than her - regardless of social standing.

"But I meant it Hak, even if I forget, I want you to be the one to remind me," Yona said. "As to why I got to be here, and what I have to get through to be where I need to be."

"And where do you need to be, Princess?"

An image of Yona holding a knife to Soo Won's neck suddenly came to his mind. Then, he shuddered as a following scene of her faltering and Soo Won taking advantage of her indecisiveness to use the same knife on her. Swiftly shoving the blade into her little belly. Blood staining her already crimson dress.

Involuntarily, Hak stiffen as he gripped the grass beneath his fingers.

Is that what I want for her? To take revenge for her father at the expense of her own life and sanctity? He asked himself.

Or would I prefer to leave her safe and sound somewhere while I exact her revenge for her. Even if it means keeping her as far away from me as possible.

Or is revenge what we truly wanted or needed, Hak thought again as a vision of a young sweet Soo Won came to mind. Aarghh... How did this ever became my fight too?

But whether he liked it or not, to answer the same question he posed Yona, Hak knew exactly where he needed to be.

And that is beside, or even behind, his Princess - in whatever way she needed him to be.

Whether he liked it or not, that was his fate and his destiny, ever since he laid his eyes on that willful eight year old, a long time ago.

"I don't really know, truth be told," Yona shook her head sadly, suddenly taking Hak out of his reverie. "I don't even know if gathering the dragons is a good idea. They seem to look at me for guidance. So what if I can't give them a good one, or I lead them through the wrong path. What happens then?"

Since Yona looked up at him expectantly, hoping for some sort of solution from him, Hak was compelled to answer.

"I don't know myself," Hak shrugged his shoulders. "But what I do know now, is that from what you have shown me so far - of your growth these past weeks, of your determination, understanding, compassion - I know you will decide on what's best for everyone. In fact, I have a gut feeling you will always put yourself last. It will always be others before you."

"Is that a bad thing?"

Yona looked worried, her huge limpid eyes staring into his.

"Nope," Hak shook his head, returning her stare with loving admiring eyes. He suddenly noticed her slight shiver and started to enfold her in his huge arms, holding her close to his heart, as if it was the most natural thing to do.

In fact, it was exactly what he wanted to do, ever since they made it safely out of the caves. It was either to hug her til they were both breathless, or to shake her by shoulders for being in danger again.

He chose the former.

"No, it's not," Hak gave a her slight squeeze. "It's just what real royalties do. And you, my princess, is as Royal as anyone can get."

What will I ever do without this man, Yona thought as she put both her arms around his tout torso, acknowledging his hug.

To tell him I love him, seemed trite, Yona thought.

For the wealth of feelings she has for him went beyond love. He was her reason for being alive, her reason for wanting to go on living.

Now I remember why I needed the dragons - to help protect this man for me, Yona thought again.

It seemed selfish, she knew, because she has a feeling that the dragons will grow on her and one day become as dear to her as this man is.

But to Yona, only time will tell where her bond with her dragons will lead them.

But for now, she knew exactly where she needed to be. and it will probably also be the same answer to where she needed to be in the future.

"Hak," Yona started to answer her Thunder Beast's earlier question. "I don't know where this road will take me, where it will take all of us. I may not even know where i really need to be then. But ultimately, personally, I do know where I _WANT_ to be."

"And where is that, princess?" Hak gave an uncharacteristic indulgent smile, knowing that with her head tucked beneath his chin, Yona was not privy to the sweet smile.

"By your side. Wherever the road leads, the place I _WANT_ to be - is by your side."

-End-


	2. My Leader King Princess

**My Leader King Princess**

"What are we looking at?" Jae-ha looked over Yona's shoulders curiously.

"Jae-ha!"

"Oh? And now we are whispering too?" He lifted his eyebrows at Yona's urgent yet low voice.

"No, we are not," hissed Yona, as she hurriedly tried to fled the scene.

Undaunted, Jae-ha peeled away the short branches of leaves to see what Yona was so intently looking at.

It was a particularly hot afternoon, and Jae-ha was on his way to the stream to take a bath when he saw Yona suspiciously sneaking behind some dense bushes to peep at the scene behind them.

When he himself took a peak, the picture that greeted Jae-ha made him grinned from ear to ear, almost to a point of bursting out in gleeful laughter.

And instead of pursuing his earlier intent of a bathing, he made a u-turn to chase after the fast retreating Yona.

"Yona…" the green dragon called out to his Fire Princess in a sing song voice. "Hey, Yona..!"

Yona's shorter legs were no match for his dragon limbs and within seconds Jae-ha was right beside her.

"What is it, Jae-ha?" Yona feigned innocence.

"Why Yona? Weren't you on the way to take a bath too?" Jae-ha's eyes caught the bundle in her hands, knowing it probably consisted of a towel and change of clothes. "Shall we go together?"

"Huh? No, it's ok," Yona answered in a nervous, shrilly voice. "I'll go later."

"Why? It's warm now, just the right temperature to bathe."

"It's all right, I just realised I have to practice my sword a bit more."

"Shin-ha has gone to the village with Yoon," Jae-ha shrugged, not giving up his pursuit, yet barely containing his bubbling laughter at Yona's predicament. "You can't practice on your own."

"Sure I can."

But of course, the Princess maintained her composure, albeit poorly.

"Hold on, then, I'll call Hak to practice with you," Jae-ha made a pretense to look for the tall handsome soldier. "Oh, wait a minute, Hak is not available either."

Yona stopped in her tracks and a tell-tale crimson started to stain her cheeks.

"Oh, that's right," Jae-ha could not help but to grin again, "he's by the river, washing his clothes."

Yona turned and glared at her green-haired friend.

"Stop it, you're just as bad as Hak sometimes," she snapped.

This time, Jae-ha let his laughter out totally.

"Aww...come on Princess, don't be shy. It's normal to be caught red handed admiring a magnificent species of a man."

"I wasn't admiring anything!"

"Well, you were in awe, then?"

"I was not in awe either..!"

"Well," Jae-ha's voice dropped in a conspiratory whisper, "what were you doing hiding behind those bushes and peeking on suspiciously for, then?"

Yona swallowed on her imaginary saliva, knowing she was caught hook line and sinker.

"Well, you're right," she gave up, knowing it was a loss cause with the teasing tall dragon. "I was on the way to the river, and then..."

"And then, you saw Hak washing his clothes, in nothing more than his wet pants?"

If Yona's face was crimson before, it was fiery red at that moment. Red enough to match her hair.

"I'm sure he was going to bath too after all that washing, you could have joined him. In fact, it would have been safer for you."

"No..." Yona's voice went low again, and she dejectedly liked down to her feet.

Oblivious to her more than usual embarrassment, Jae-ha continued, "If I were you, I'd join him and would then help scrub his huge back of rippling muscles for him."

Jae-ha sighed sincerely, his eyes clouded with a mental picture of him and Hak washing each other's backs and then some.

"And maybe even insist I'd want to wash his glorious dark hair for him too."

Coming to his senses, Jae-ha shook his evil thoughts away.

"Yona, do you notice a new scar on the side of his..."

Jae-ha suddenly noticed Yona's silence and stopped his teasing. Which in actual fact was not teasing, but more of wishful thinking even on his part.

Yona was clearly embarrassed by Jae-ha's topic of conversation, but he was not entirely sure if the same thought did not run through her head as well.

Jae-ha smiled softly.

 _My princess,_ he thought. _I never wanted you. Or any sort of leader-king, whatsoever. I was contented to lead my carefree life on my own. But since this dragon blood of mine chose my fate for me, I'm so glad that it's you. A little slip of fierce, loyal, innocence._

 _Hak is so in love with you. And would die for you. And he's so aware of his feelings for you, that he lives this torment with his heart on his sleeves, pulsating so loud the whole world could hear._

 _Accept you._

 _You, who would just die as quickly for her long time best friend, if not sooner._

 _You, who loved him more than yourself, yet you cannot recognize the same love that is enveloping you by him._

 _You, who are slowly falling in love, yet not understanding the symptoms._

 _Or perhaps you do._

 _But because of the situation we are all in, choose not act upon it._

 _I love you, Yona,_ Jae-ha thought sadly. _You and Hak both. In fact, I love you and Hak together even more._

 _And there is no one amongst your comrade who do want to see you happy with Hak. Accept maybe Kija. But he too cannot deny the bond between the two of you._

 _A bond that rivals even yours with all of us four combined._

Jae-ha smiled to himself again, looking at Yona fidgeting in front of him.

 _Don't worry, little princess, your dragon is here for you. As all your other dragons._

 _We are here to ensure your happiness._

 _And personally, in my book, that happiness includes one strong, dark and handsome bodyguard and best friend beside you._

 _I'll make sure that that both the status you have confined Hak to – bodyguard best friend - will be elevated to soul mate and lover._

 _No, I believe Hak's role in your heart, has been alleviated to even more than that._

 _I just want to reinforce that in your pretty little head too._

 _But let's take that slow,_ Jae-ha thought, _for the sakes of all concerned. Him included._

If Jae-ha did not admire and love that sarcastic bulk of manly perfection so much, he would have courted Yona himself, and fly her away from all this hardship. Something that the Thunder Beast was too scared to do.

 _That blond King has nothing on you, you silly Dark Dragon,_ Jae-ha berated Hak silently. _Yes, he is intelligent, driven and handsome to boot. But he is also cunning, manipulative and at times heartless._

 _He is not for Yona._

 _No matter what you might think._

 _Even Yona has long accepted the fact._

 _It is time you should too._

 _But maybe in time,_ Jae-ha suddenly thought, _his empathy going out to Yona again._

 _She, who was probably excited yet fearful of her own heart._

 _Of not losing the one thing that has remained constant in her life._

 _Hak - in the current form and function she knows and understand._

 _A lover of a Hak is definitely something far better than their current relationship. In fact, even if their mutual love for each other was put out in the open, Jae-ha doubt anything much would change between. Hak would continue to tease and protect her. And she would continue to torment and care for him._

Jar-ha sighed inwardly again.

He reached out to ruffle his princess already tousled hair.

"Come, Yona, I get you. Let's leave Hak by the river in peace," he smiled. "Let me teach you how to throw knives instead."

Yona's confused face turn to relief, both at the fact that Jae- has getting her off the hook and also at the prospect at learning something new.

"Really?"

"Uhuh," Jae-ha nodded.

"Thanks Jae-ha, you're the best!" she said gratefully.

And the smile she bestowed upon him, was enough to make him die a happy dragon.

And Jae-ha all the thought of Hak out his head all together.

At least for this time.


End file.
